Monthly Archives: October 2012

My motivation was really low as I already had a long day at work. And was looking to do a few more hours of work later tonight. I was pretty beat up after the traffic and errands on my way home. But I knew I had to get the mileage in. Only two weeks until I will be running a half marathon. I can’t let up now.

I got home, fed the cats, changed into my running gear, and headed for the door. My plan was to do a 20/20/20 Progression Run. This is an activity where I run 20 minutes at a slow, warm-up pace, 20 minutes at a steady pace, and 20 minutes at my goal half-marathon pace (HMP) or faster. My goal HMP is an 11 minute/mile, or roughly a 2 hour 24 minute finish time.

I loaded the activity into my RunKeeper app, loaded up my tunes, and strapped my phone to my arm. The walk to my starting point is about 5 minutes. I took it slow and just breathed in the atmosphere of Fall. The fresh air, the smell of the Autumn leaves, the fires burning in the distance all invigorated me. At first my legs were heavy. It took about 2 miles to get warmed up. By the time I was half way through the second interval, the pace started to flow. I was no longer ruminating about work, traffic, schedules, commitments, obligations. I settled into a rhythm, one foot after another, the sidewalk seemingly gliding below my feet.

I picked up the tempo at the third interval settling into a sub 11 minute/mile pace and could feel the endorphins flow, starting to feel more like a machine than an aching, aging man. I finished the workout with an overall average 11:09 minute/mil, about 5 1/2 miles behind me, and feeling like a completely different person than when I started.

I recovered with an Endorox drink, some stretching, and some foam rolling. I allowed myself one episode of Star Trek: DS9 and then headed to my office to put in a couple of hours more of work before bedtime.